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kiro-debug

Investigate implementation failures using root-cause-first debugging. Use when an implementer is blocked, verification fails, or repeated remediation does not converge.

Quality

78%

Does it follow best practices?

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SecuritybySnyk

Low

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tessl review fix ./tools/cc-sdd/templates/agents/codex-skills/skills/kiro-debug/SKILL.md

The canonical home for this skill is kiro-debug in gotalab/cc-sdd

SKILL.md
Quality
Evals
Security

Quality

Content

75%Weight 40%Scale 1-5

Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.

A well-structured, instruction-only process skill with a clearly sequenced root-cause method, concrete inputs and outputs, decision rules, and a copy-paste report template. Its weaknesses are modest: duplicated enum and NEXT_ACTION guidance across sections, no worked example of a completed debug report, and an implicit evidence-confirmation checkpoint.

Suggestions

Consolidate the category enum and NEXT_ACTION decision rules into single sections (e.g., state the enum once in 'Classify the Root Cause' and reference it from the Output Format) to remove duplication.

Add one worked example of a filled debug report (e.g., a RUNTIME_MISMATCH case with a sample VERIFICATION command) to make the output format fully concrete.

Make the evidence-confirmation checkpoint explicit in the method, e.g., 'Do not classify until the hypothesis is confirmed against the error text, repository state, or documentation.'

DimensionReasoningScore

Conciseness

The body is lean: terse bullet lists, no concept explanations Claude already knows, and every section earns its place. However, the 10-category enum is duplicated between 'Classify the Root Cause' and the Output Format template, and NEXT_ACTION guidance is spread across three sections ('Determine the Smallest Safe Next Action', 'Determine Whether the Task Plan Is Still Valid', 'Stop / Escalate'), which could be consolidated. This matches anchor 4 (minor instances that could be trimmed) rather than anchor 5's 'every token earns its place'.

4 / 5

Actionability

Guidance is concrete for an instruction-only skill: exact inputs to gather, output fields with enum values, decision rules for RETRY/BLOCK/STOP, and a copy-paste Markdown report template. It stops short of anchor 5 because there is no worked example of a filled debug report or sample verification commands covering a common case, leaving a minor gap.

4 / 5

Workflow Clarity

The six-step method is clearly sequenced (read error, inspect repo, search web, classify, choose action, validate plan) with explicit escalation criteria and a feedback loop via NEXT_ACTION: RETRY_TASK. The checkpoint confirming the root-cause hypothesis against gathered evidence before classifying is only implicit in the Critical Rule ('Identify the root cause first'), so it fits anchor 4 (clear sequence, most checkpoints present) better than anchor 5's explicit validation steps.

4 / 5

Progressive Disclosure

No bundle files exist; the skill is a single ~145-line file with clear ## and ### section headers and no buried or nested references, so nothing is misplaced. Because all content is inline with section headers as the only navigation and the file exceeds the under-50-line simple-skill case, it fits anchor 4 (good structure, minor organization gaps) rather than anchor 5's well-signaled multi-file split.

4 / 5

Total

16

/

20

Passed

Description

70%Weight 40%Scale 1-5

Based on the skill's description, can an agent find and select it at the right time? Clear, specific descriptions lead to better discovery.

A concise, well-structured description that clearly answers both what the skill does and when to use it, with concrete trigger conditions. Its main weakness is a thin 'what' clause: it describes one investigation action without mentioning the concrete outputs the skill produces, which would sharpen specificity and completeness.

Suggestions

Expand the 'what' clause with 1-2 concrete outputs, e.g., 'Investigate implementation failures using root-cause-first debugging and return a root cause, category, fix plan, and next action.'

Add a common trigger variation such as 'when a task fails to build or validation errors repeat' to broaden natural keyword coverage.

DimensionReasoningScore

Specificity

The description names the domain ('implementation failures', 'root-cause-first debugging') and a single concrete action ('Investigate'), but lists no other capabilities or outputs (e.g., root cause reports, fix plans, escalation decisions). It matches the anchor for 1-2 concrete actions without comprehensive coverage; it falls short of anchor 4, which requires several specific actions listed.

3 / 5

Completeness

Both 'what' ('Investigate implementation failures using root-cause-first debugging') and 'when' ('Use when an implementer is blocked, verification fails, or repeated remediation does not converge') are explicitly present with concrete triggers. The 'what' is a single verb phrase that omits what the skill produces (ROOT_CAUSE, FIX_PLAN, NEXT_ACTION outputs), so it does not fully reach the comprehensiveness of anchor 5.

4 / 5

Trigger Term Quality

'implementer is blocked', 'verification fails', and 'repeated remediation does not converge' are natural phrases a user would say when needing this skill. Coverage is good but misses common variations like 'error', 'build fails', or 'task fails', placing it between anchors 4 and 5, closer to 4.

4 / 5

Distinctiveness Conflict Risk

Root-cause investigation for blocked implementers and non-converging remediation is a distinct niche within an orchestrated agent pipeline, with trigger terms unlikely to fire for unrelated skills. There is minor overlap risk with a general-purpose debugging skill, keeping it below anchor 5.

4 / 5

Total

15

/

20

Passed

Validation

100%

Checks the skill against the spec for correct structure and formatting. All validation checks must pass before discovery and implementation can be scored.

Validation — 16 / 16 Passed

Validation for skill structure

No warnings or errors.

Repository

gotalab/cc-sdd

Path

tools/cc-sdd/templates/agents/codex-skills/skills/kiro-debug/SKILL.md

Reviewed

Table of Contents

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